Breaking fashion news: in a New York court today, Christian Louboutin, the French god of red-soled shoes, lost a case against Yves Saint Laurent for infringing against said distinctive soles. The court said that the color red wasn’t a unique enough element to be protected by a copyright. Well, I’m not so sure. Even my husband knows that Christian Louboutin shoes have red soles and he is most definitely not a shoe person. Perhaps that should be the legal standard – would the average man know what makes these shoes special? Or maybe we should use the Jennifer Lopez standard; if J.Lo has a song about it, you can copyright it.

The word apenage (ap-en-ahj) means “prerogative or privilege.” It comes from the headline in Le Monde that said, “Le chausseur Louboutin, débouté, n’aura pas l’apanage de la semelle rouge.” This means, “The shoemaker Louboutin, dismissed from court, will not have the prerogative of the red sole.” The word “débouté” in this context made a nice little pun on the name Louboutin, and on being booted out of court. Whether or not he won in court today, I’d accept a pair of Louboutins. Size 7, kitten heel please. I can’t teach in stilettos.

Update: For more on this story, go to no less a source than the Economist. This “sole” searching debate may be headed all the way to the Supreme Court!